Arcana
by The Omega Mega One
Summary: "I had this sense of duty. A sense of wonder. I was getting myself involved in something I shouldn't, but felt I should." Carmel was somebody with no technical experience, yet she was throwing herself into a virtual world she never expected. "Welcome to the Black Star Guild."
1. Chapter 1

"You look too happy for your own good," Mag said beside me while we walked through the halls, "What's up?"

"Oh...nothing~" I tried to control my smile.

Mag poked my sides, "Come on! Tell me!"

I giggled and squirmed as I walked faster, trying to get away. "Nope! It's a surprise~"

I entered the cafeteria and looked around. "I don't see them...where the hell-EEEEK!"

"Tell me or die bitch!"

I giggled and squirmed, trying to get away. Mag has a thing about putting me in a strangle hold when she wants something. She's not violent, she just does very odd things sometimes.

"Never~!"

"Fine..." Mag let go of me, "...bitch."

"Love you too Mag." I giggled as I headed to a table.

She chuckled and walked beside me, "Sure, sure, sure."

"Hey guys..." A little girl said from our table said, I say ours mostly because we always sit there every day,

"What're you drawing today Yuri?" That was Mag, she likes giving everybody nicknames, Yukari wasn't very lucky with hers. I, on the other hand, had better luck, Mag decided that Carmen was a lot closer to Carmel than the red suited titular character of a certain tv program we shall not mention.

"Huh? Oh...nothing..." I leaned over her shoulder to see what it was she was working on but she covered it with her hand.

"That's cheating!" I said.

She smiled and blushed, "It'll make sense...when I'm finished..."

"How about me, huh Yuri?" Mag sat next to her, hugging her warmly as she tried to catch a glimpse, "Don't you loooooooveee meee~?"

"You're my best friend...of course..." She moved her drawing farther away.

"So why don't you show me~?" Mag leaned on Yukari, getting closer to the piece of paper.

"B-because it's a secret..."

Mag stage-whispered in a deep husk voice, "If you show me I'll give you the lesbian sex."

"W-what?! I-I'm your f-friend, but..." her face turned hot red as I laughed out loud with somebody else. Wait.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Nafhe set down her food and sat down across the table from Mag. The girl laughing beside her was Rio. We have a similar taste in humor.

"Everything is wrong with me, would you like to see?" Mag literally purred as she got up and looked at Nafhe.

"Ewl. No. Get away from me." Nafhe leaned back and pushed her face away, "you're gross."

"Come on baby~" Mag was making her voice deep again, "You know you want it~"

"Shut the fuck up!"

"You're far from plastic~"

"Ewl!"

"You're a good girl~"

It was at this point me and Rio started laughing too hard, forcing Mag to stop.

"Shut up! All of you!" Nafhe pouted and crossed her arms.

"It's a joke Nafhe!"

"Hmph!"

"It was?" Mag leaned forward on the table right up to Nafhe and whispered, "I know you want it!"

"Ugh!"

Me and Rio started laughing again but we both knew we had to stop her, "Alright Mag, leave 'er alone." Rio said.

"What, do you want it too?"

Rio answered first, "I'll pass; I have to study, next time though."

Mag smiled and looked at me and spoke in her husky voice again, "How about you baby~?"

"Ewl!" I did my best impression of Nafhe, "That's gross."

"Shut the fuck up Carmel."

"Sheesh," I rolled my eyes really dramatically, "and to think I had something to tell you."

"Hmph."

"I have something important to tell all of you actually," I stood and walked over to the foot of our lunch table waiting for everyone to quiet. No one did.

"Guys!" Mag threw a paper ball and hit Nafhe in the face.

"Ow. The fuck. The. Fuck." Nafhe slammed her palm on the table and looked Mag straight in the face. "You wanna go bitch?!"

"Shut your face bitch, Carmel's talking," Mag signaled me to continue with her hand.

"Thanks Mag~"

She smiled at me and signaled me to continue again. I went into my pocket and took out a receipt. "We finally have money to buy a RAILS!" I said aloud at our table.

"What?!" Nafhe jumped out of her chair and hugged me, "Once you got your account up text me so I can send you my name on it m'kay?"

"Don't forget about me okay?" Yukari said after looking up from her drawing for a second.

"You bet guys! I can't-"

"Let me look at that!" Mag reached across the table and snatched my receipt. She cleared her hair to see it with both her eyes. One thing you HAVE to know about Mag, she never uses her right eye. She suffers from "polycoria," or something along those lines, it basically means she has multiple irises so she's legally blind in her right eye.

She read it over and seemed to keep reading it over until she just threw it on the table and stood up. "I'm going home," she seemed annoyed, "Naff, take Carmel to work will you?"

"Okay...what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Mag said quickly, "Tell the teacher I went home, I have a headache."

"Um...all right?"

"Mag! Wait!" I rushed over to her and whispered, "Is something wrong? I thought you would be happy...you all are always talking about how much you love RAILS."

Something was wrong. Something was obviously bothering her, because Matagi looked me right in the eye and told me, "Nothing's wrong," and left.

"What's got her panties in a bunch?" Rio walked up beside me.

"I don't know."

* * *

"I don't know Carmel...it's weird," Nafhe played with her hair as she walked me down the street, "She's never just left school like that. She gets called out of school a lot though..."

"Yeah..." I answered, "but she always tries to make it back to walk me to work."

"Oh..." she looked at the ground not knowing what to say.

"Well..." I started as I began to think back to something that had happened, "remember that one time...with that one guy?"

"The wannabe rocker with the curly hair and a cheap guitar he couldn't play? Yeah I remember that!" Nafhe giggled to herself, "He turned down Mag's confession letter because 'her rack's too small.'"

"..." I stared at her with a plain look of disapproval.

"What?!" Nafhe pouted angrily as we turned a corner.

"You only remembered it to tease her about it one day, didn't you?"

"Uh..." Nafhe then yelled and pointed out, "Hey! Look! We're at the diner already!"

I stared at her again, "When I get out of work you are so dead."

Nafhe laughed nervously, "W-why d-don't you look at t-the time! Y-you're going to b-be late!"

"You are so lucky we stopped at that liquor store," I glared at her as I headed around the back to the rear door.

"Hahahaha," she laughed nervously, "y-yeah..." She looked at her phone and clicked her tongue, "Damn, you're fine walking home later right?"

"Hmm?" I flipped my own phone open and checked the time, 3:23 pm, I didn't have much time until I had to clock in, "What's wrong?"

"I really need to get home," she waved and ran off faster than I could say goodbye.

"Okay then..." I rubbed my arms and pushed the doors open.

"Carmel!" A man bumped into me on my way in, "How you doin' girl? No Mag? Did she dump you? You got your uniform right? You're almost late y'know."

This guy was my boss. Name? Boss. I really didn't know his real name, everybody just called him Boss. I mean...everybody. The waitresses, the dish washers, the cooks, the cashiers; everybody called him Boss. He was a nice guy and all, just very nosy and asked way too many questions. I sighed as I put my thumb on the machine and clocked in, "Yeah, yeah..."

"I'm not trying to give you a rough time Carmen," he stroked his beard and chuckled, "I'm just making sure you're fine. Usually you walk here with Mag."

I rolled my eyes and brushed him off, "I'm fine. Can I go change into my uniform now?"

He sighed and shook his head, "alright."

* * *

It's not that I hated my job, the uniform wasn't bad, it was just an olive polo, beige khakis, and a black apron. It wasn't that I hated the customers, most of the regulars were nice, like the old man who always came in and ordered chamomile tea, or the twenty-something brunette who had an obsession with caramel mochas, or the middle school cousins who came in everyday for cinnamon buns. And it wasn't that I hated my coworkers, they treated me like a little sister and sure, it was a little bit annoying sometimes but, it was sort of sweet. No, no, the problem was that the customers, the uniform, and the coworkers all added up into a tiny little building for a few hours was fucking draining.

At least it was over for the day and I had finished my homework during lunch...Oh my god. I get to use RAILS all night.

...First I had to get home.

I opened the back door and looked around for the familiar figure of my Mag. ...she wasn't there. Which meant I had to walk home alone...through the dark streets. Alone. Dark streets. Alone. Is this clear enough? Dark. Streets. Alone. It's kinda scary. And it's not like I could ask any co-workers to take me home without waiting another hour. I just had to brave it.

Alright... I can do this...

MRAWR!

CRASH!

CRACK!

EEEK!

…

Okay...maybe that last sound was me hiding behind the door and not the alley cat that I had accidentally startled into a couple of broken plates. BUT! To be fair, it is dark and I'm alone. You can't blame me for being even a little bit jumpy.

Okay. I really need to get home.

I stepped out onto the pavement outside and took a breath of the chilly weather. I sighed and zipped up my sweater; I really should've brought a bigger one.

I turned a corner and paused a second to see if anybody was walking the streets with me and comforted myself with the cute couple walking their dog. Sure they weren't walking with me but at least I wasn't alone. It wasn't a bad neighborhood, not at all. It's just really creepy at night. I knew Downing Blvd. like the back of my hand. I had just passed the Laundromats and next up was the furniture outlet, then there was the music store with the missing dot on the "i", then was the grocery store, then the thrift store, then the pawn shop. Like I said I knew this place like the back of my hand. It's just creepy at night, y'know?

I rubbed my shoulders and kept walking. It was a cold night and my sweater was honestly too beat up to keep me warm. I oughta remember that next time I got my paycheck. If I was lucky I might be able to find a nice one from the thrift. Hopefully my next one won't have a hole in the pocket like this one. It was a hassle honestly. I could've bought a new one but I was saving money to buy a RAILS and it had left my poor savings account in zeroes. It was kinda rough honestly. Lunch break sucked because I had to pick things off the value menu and value meals aren't really filling. I guess I could've asked Mag but she wouldn't let me buy lunch ever again and I already ask her for too much. I honestly feel like a leach.

Hey...wait a minute. Where's the couple with the dog? I looked around and sighed, well at least I still wasn't alone, and there was somebody off in the distance walking this way. Plus I was almost home, two blocks more and then I can finally call Nafhe to help me set up RAILS. Maybe if I'm lucky we can play Arcana.

I walked a bit faster. I really wanted to get home. Not because of the dark streets but because I was excited. Seriously I couldn't wait anymore; I was considering calling Nafhe and-

Oof?!

That person from earlier was grabbing my arm! Damn it, they're dressed in all black and with a hood on, what the hell was I expecting?

"Damn it...let me-!"

"Listen to me."

"Like hell-!"

"Listen to me!"

That voice...it was husk yet feminine and they were obviously deepening it...but it sounded familiar.

The person continued, "Whatever you do, DON'T log in to RAILS."

I gasped, who was this person? Why did they seem familiar and why didn't they want me logging into RAILS?

"Do you understand me? Don't log into RAILS!"

I shook my head and tried to pull away, "No!"

"Do as I-"

I had had enough and punched them in the gut.

"Agh?!"

They let go of my arm and I instantly tried to get away. I had a two foot lead and kept running but my entire body jerked backwards and fell to the hard ground as they tried to pull me back by my hood. The world was fuzzy as I tried to clear my head and move. My attacker walked up to me and looked down on me, I couldn't see their face because of a mix of their hood, my dizziness, and the night.

"Listen! You will not log in to-"

I pulled at their bony ankle and they fell back, leaving them just like I had. I struggled to crawl over to them to sit on their tiny stomach.

"You bastard!" I gritted my teeth and punched them right in the face. I panted and punched them again for good measure.

"Let's see who you are..." I wiped my face and pulled their hood off, "Oh my god... Mag?!"

She stared at me and I stared back, both of us quiet as a mouse. I was shocked. Things didn't make sense. Why was Mag acting so strange? This isn't normal, not at all...

"Carmel..."

"Mag...?"

We were quiet for a second until she pushed me off and quickly got to her feat. "I'm sorry...I just..." she bit her lip, "You wouldn't understand!" I watched from the ground as she clenched her fist and ran off.

What the hell just happened?

* * *

"Carmel! You're home I bet!"

"Yeah Naff, just got back...listen I..."

"Have you updated your RAILS visor yet?"

"Uh no...but..."

"You should...it takes a while."

"Okay but..."

"I'm sorry Carmel but I gotta go. Big ugly boss. Really rare drop. We'll see you in the City of Beginnings! Bye~"

...what the hell just happened? I sighed...what am I going to do? Should I really log in? Mag told me not to...but she's acting so weird. It's not like anything bad can happen to me. It would be all over the news. Plus I've never noticed anything weird in any- Okay, Mag is the exception.

I sighed, I might as well just continue with my plans. My mom was working her night job and my brother had, by some miracle, already gone to sleep.

I twirled around in my chair and looked over my room. It wasn't very big but it still was my room, and I liked it. Entering it, there was a window on the far wall, and then there was my closet and bed on the right and my desk on the left with only a narrow passageway between them. I had a few posters around and a drawing Yukari made me right over my desk. There wasn't enough room for anything else, it was a small room but it was MY room.

I smiled to myself as I took out a small square shaped box from under my desk. This was my RAILS unit. It cost me a fortune but I'm so glad I finally had it. I started by opening the box and was greeted by a couple pamphlets. I flipped through them and decided I could just figure out how to use it as I go. I wasn't going to understand any of the techy mumbo jumbo anyways.

I pulled out a layer of Styrofoam and I could see my RAILS visor. I smiled as I slid it out of the box and just held it in my hand. It looked so cool. Like any other RAILS visor it had the main visor that covered my eyes. The visors were connected to a pair of headphones which let me slide them off and on my head. Also connected to the right ear cup was a small microphone that, unlike the visor, remained static and immovable. On the left ear cup were a couple buttons, the biggest being the power button, then the mute and volume controls. It looked really high tech and very cutting edge but the best part was that my model green. Yes! Green was a very creative color no matter what people tell me.

I took a deep breath of air, took off my glasses, and lowered it onto me and adjusted the closeness of the microphone and the resting position of the visor. Here goes nothing.

* * *

"Hello and welcome to your own personal Realtime Authorize Interactive Line Service, otherwise known as RAILS. RAILS is manufactured by the Tamashi Group, subsidiary of the Irino Corporation. Tamashi Group, pioneering the way in virtual Reality technology since 2012."

I was...somewhere...it's difficult to explain my surroundings. There was nothing to explain. All there was was white. I was standing on ground that was just white. There were no walls just an endless horizon of white, stretching on forever. The disembodied voice seemed to be coming from every direction, completely surrounding me but never was it loud nor quiet.

"Please stand by as the RAILS unit scans whether you are primarily right brained or left brained."

Huh?

"Complete. User is primarily right brained."

I'm right brained?

"Please stand by as the RAILS unit scans your brain for necessary information required for registration."

I felt a wave of warmth run through my body and I shivered. It just felt so weird.

"Complete. Please enter your username."

Huh? Suddenly, from the middle of nowhere (literally) a prompt appeared.

"What do I do?" I mumbled to myself aloud.

"Please enter your desired username."

"Uh..." I tapped the blank space and a keyboard appeared in front of my hands, "I don't know what to use..."

"We can randomly generate a list of names, would that be acceptable?"

I bit my lip and racked my brain trying to find any name, "Fine..."

The prompt disappeared and was replaced with a list of names in alphabetical order.

"We have arranged one hundred randomly generated names from which to choose."

One hundred names?! I glanced through them all and sighed, this didn't help at all! I sighed, I might as well just go ahead and choose one.

"This one!" I pointed at a random username.

"Is 'Devil Girl' acceptable? Notice, once set, your name can never be changed."

I sighed and pressed accept.

"Thank you. To begin playing Arcana you must first create your character."

The prompt once again disappeared and once again, out of nowhere, a mirror appeared. The mirror showed a reflection of me but would alternate between my normal self, an elf, and a part cat.

"Arcana's races are merely cosmetic and don't affect overall gameplay."

Oh. Well might as well pick the one that I like. Hmm...the cat one looked too tacky on my reflection so that was right out. Now the elf or the human...Spock or Kirk? Hmmm...

"Do you have a coin to toss, computer?"

"Yes. Please set parameters."

Wait a minute, am I talking to a computer? Talk about sci-fi. "Heads human, tails elf."

"Confirmed." Suddenly a coin fell at my feat heads-up.

"I'll take the human me."

"Confirmed."

The mirror's reflection shifted and settled on my regular appearance.

"Now please choose your Arcana, this will decide your strength in combat."

Twenty-two cards appeared with their own separate individual prompts. Great, more decisions.

"Arcana has a specialized combat system that allows a balanced game for all users, no Arcana is stronger than any other. It is up to the player to decide how he wishes to play their suit."

Oh, well that's kinda cool I guess.

"Hmm..."

I walked up to one and examined it. The picture had a man hanging upside down with his foot crossed. Around the picture was a decorative border with the bottom showing the Roman numeral XII. Above the card the prompt read, "The Hanged Man Arcana specializes in Necromancy. The Hanged Man can bring forth various summons to do his biddings."

I sighed, I had a lot of reading to do...unless I skimmed through them...hmm...Lovers used two blades, Sun used cannons, Justice used pistols...and bingo!

"I choose Star!"

"Player has chosen the star Arcana. Confirm?"

"Yes!"

"Please choose your beginning weapon."

"GUUUUHHHH!" I groaned loudly. Can I just play the damn game?

Again a prompt appeared and showed me three weapons, a cutlass, a katana, and a rapier. I sighed and closed my eyes, "Eenie meenie miney moe!"

"Player has chosen the katana. Con-?"

"Yes...Can I play the damn game now?"

"Please select your character's clothes."

...Okay maybe this wasn't as bad.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later and I think I'm done.

I looked myself over in the virtual mirror and smiled. I looked like a badass. Boots, stockings, cool sweater, earphones, couldn't find any cool glasses though.

"Alright, computer, I'm done here."

"Final choice. Would you like to spawn in the City of Beginnings or Premiere Town?"

What was it Nafhe said? "City of Beginnings."

"You will now spawn. Welcome to the world of Arcana."

* * *

So that was the first chapter of Arcana! I hope you all liked it and enjoyed the chapter. Fair warning, those who have read the latter chapters of my last multi-chapter story know that it takes a while for me to update. It's mostly a byproduct of getting older and having less time than I used to as I can't put out a chapter a week like I used to, but maybe one chapter ever two-three weeks hopefully. Anyways, thanks to my ever faithful beta-reader, Black Maiden. Also, don't be afraid to drop a review if you liked it or didn't like it, hope to see you again soon!

...

...

You're not gone yet? Wanna hear a story? You can leave if you want. Cool, you stayed. This story and my previous story, Gods' Will, were both stories I've been trying to write for a very long time. Both of these have gone through different drafts and have evolved from different influences. The first draft of this first chapter had the lunch table scene but also had a scene that will later be seen in the third chapter in a sort of flash forward/flashback, Tarantino-esk non-linear story telling fashion. I finally decided to finish this chapter after watching things like _Log Horizon_, the original _Tron_, and _Sword Art Online_ (I even ended up buying the light novel of Aincrad with Alfenhiem on its way), especially _.hack/_'s _Quantum_ series. I also formed a real-world basis off the current big technological race for Virtual Reality tech being led by Oculus (yes I knew about them even before the Facebook buy out), Samsung, Valve, and Sony. Anyways, you made it through the giant wall of text and let me rant at you. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, now this is cool. You know all those cool sci-fi movies? Like Blade Runner, Mirror's Edge, and Ghost in the Shell? Now imagine being there, like if you were suddenly teleported to Time Square at night, futuristic glass skyscrapers, fluorescent LED lights, and moving billboards everywhere. I could hear stray bits of people's conversations as they quickly came and left.

I took one step forward and someone instantly came up to me. He wore a leather tunic over a chain mail chest plate and his legs were semi-plated with iron protection, "Hi! I represent the Divine Phoenix Guild, the largest guild in the game. Would you like to join us? We help newbies such as yourself get acquainted with the game and level up much faster than if you were to play solo."

Was this a computer? There was no way somebody could be recruiting like this, then again people recruit like this in real life too. Still, it's always good to ignore them, "No thanks."

The guy stepped closer to me, "Hey, I know it might seem like a scam and all but the Divine Phoenix really helped me get my-"

"It is a scam!" A woman on a broom swooped in and yelled.

Oh my god, I could barely stop myself from giggling. Was this Rio? She wore a turquoise and black dress with a light brown corset around her waist, a bow around her neck, a pointy witch hat with weird spikes around it on her head, and her shoes were tall boots that would probably give her a good two or three inches to her height.

"What're you laughing at?!" Rio's expression suddenly changed as she realized who I was, "Oh my god...Carmel?"

I waved at her and smiled, "Hey Rio~"

She smiled back and lowered herself and her broom until her feat could touch the ground, "We were looking all over for you! Come on hop on!"

I stared at her broom and pointed at guild guy, "What about him?"

"H-Huh?"

"Ignore him," she outstretched her hand, "hop on."

I gripped her hand and she pulled me up and onto her broom. "Have you ever ridden shotgun on a motorcycle before?" She said while pressing buttons on a prompt, "Accept this friend request by the way."

Immediately as she said that a prompt appeared and asked, "Elder Caster has sent a friend request; accept?"

I smirked and snickered, "Elder Caster?"

"Yes?" She turned her head as if I had called her, "What?"

"Nothing...I just thought you had a weird username, I didn't think you'd respond to it."

"Hmph," she rolled her eyes, "you better get used to being called Devil Girl, that's what everyone's gonna call you."

I wrapped my arms around her stomach and I jerked backwards slightly as we began to ascend, "Some one takes this game seriously. You're even dressed up as a witch."

"I'm a wiccan!" She rolled her eyes. "Anyways..." She leaned forward and grabbed onto the tip of her broom, "hold on to me." I wrapped my arms underneath her own and gripped her stomach.

"Hey, Carmel..."

"Yes...?" I answered.

Rio looked back at me and smirked confidently, "This is going to be fun."

"Huh-?!" I jerked back suddenly and violently as we blasted through the sky line, narrowly missing any of the dozen advertisements that protruded from the building's sides. We swerved, banked, and rolled, up, over, under, and around the city lights, buildings, towers, and signs. We were going sooo fast…

The fluorescent signs were a blur with the words a hazy mess. Even if I tried to focus on a far off sign we would quickly pass it. Nothing lasted in my line of sight for long. Not even the sky line with our constant turning and spinning.

I squeezed Rio, holding on to dear life, while we spiraled around the tallest building. We were gaining altitude at a steep angle, any second we'd be-

Moisture hit my face as we broke through the cloud line and we slowly came to a halt. I couldn't see the ground; the only thing resembling ground was the thick layer of clouds that spread everywhere. Other than the clouds there were only two other things: the sky, it's stars, and the peak of the tallest building.

"The top floors all belong to the Divine Phoenix Guild." Rio said, "They're the biggest and strongest guild in the game."

"And I guess you're not part of it?"

She nodded, "It's just a pyramid scheme. You level up and they get all the rare drops."

Rare drops? What? Just nodded politely.

"You don't know what that is, do you?" She asked.

"Rare drops?"

"Yeah. That."

"No idea."

She sighed, "Now I feel like a dork but-"

"You're dressed as a witch." I smiled and pointed to her corset, "You were a dork before that."

"Shut up and keep your boobs in your jacket!" she chided, "Plus, I'm a wiccan! Not a witch."

"Whatever..." I grumbled as I zipped up my jacket, "what's a rare drop?"

"You know how when you jump on an enemy in Mario you get points?"

I nodded slowly.

"Well in these sorts of games they can sometimes 'drop' items. And if you're lucky you can get..."

"Rare items?"

"Yup! Now..." Rio leaned forward and gripped her broom, "let's go find Nafhe."

I gripped onto her tight; if we were going down she was probably going to try to go even faster.

"Hehehe~ You know what I'm doing~"

Just as sudden as she did anything on this broom we were quickly nose diving to the ground.

I tensed up as we broke through the layer of clouds. Mist caught at the ends of my hair as we were quickly on a one way ticket to the ground.

"PULL UP!" I hit her back with my palm, "RIO! PULL UP! PULL UP!"

We were still falling, fast, really fucking fast. I clenched my teeth and gripped Rio tightly as the road got wider and wider as we got closer and closer.

"Hehehehe~"

Did she have a fucking death wish?! We were going to hit the ground any second-

My ears were ringing and my eyes were hazy. What just happened? I looked around and noticed how quiet the city was. There was an incessant ringing in my ear. Rio was talking but I couldn't hear her clearly. From what I could see we hadn't crashed, in fact we were going up again but we were staying more level for once.

"-hear me now?"

"Huh?"

"Oh good!" She giggled again as we slowly came to a stop, "The sonic boom is out off your system!"

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!" I yelled at her, "WE ALMOST DIED!"

"Ow..." she massaged her temples, "If the sonic booms don't leave me deaf you sure as all hell will."

"If the crash doesn't kill you, I will. Oh wait." I grabbed her by her neck and started strangling her.

"Hey!" We turned to face a rooftop where a pink haired girl with mechanical hands stood and...oh my god...is that...

"Nafhe?!"

"Huh?" Nafhe raised an eyebrow as a smile crept across her face, "Carmel?"

I gave her a thumbs up.

"Hey," she walked closer to the edge of the rooftop, "we were looking all over for you! I was worried you had spawned in Premiere Town."

"Well you said City of Beginnings," I shrugged.

"Well at least we found you, Rio wouldn't stop singing 'Where in the world is Carmen San Diego,'" she sighed, "speaking of witch, can you stop turning Elder Caster over there into a smurf?"

"Huh? What do you...?" I looked over and noticed I was still sorta...kinda...maybe...strangling Rio, "Woops."

I let go of her neck and she gasped for air, "I thought I was going to get PK'ed!"

"Peekayed?" I asked.

"The letters P and K," she said as we hovered over to the rooftop and got off, "it stands for Player Killers."

"You've got a lot to learn Carmel," Nafhe said as she walked toward us, "or should I say Devil Girl~"

I grumbled and stomped my foot. "How do you guys know my username?!"

"You really do have a lot to learn." Nafhe sighed, "Just focus on a player and it'll tell you their username, Arcana, and health."

I stared at her for a second and another prompt appeared telling me her username, her strength Arcana, and her absurdly high health.

"Znfay?" I tried pronouncing her username; how the hell do you pronounce XNFE?!

She glared daggers at me, "the X is silent you idiot, you pronounce it Nafhe."

That...makes a lot of sense now that I think about it...

"Any more questions?" She sounded irritated but my curiosity was going to bother me if I didn't ask.

"Why do you have robot bunny ears?"

"They're um..." Nafhe paused for a second, "Antennas...yeah...they help..."

Rio snickered, "She's lying, they're just there for-"

"Murdering your face if you don't shut the fuck up!"

"I'll be across the city by the time you cross the distance between you and me!" Rio took a step back towards her broom.

Nafhe formed a fist with her giant robot hands, "I bet I could reach you from here."

"I could cast an EMP spell!"

"I can punch you faster than you can cast it."

"Guys!" I yelled as I got between them and kept them from doing something stupid.

"Stay out of this Carmel!" Nafhe raised her fist ready to grab me.

"That's not fair; she still has a default sword." Rio smirked, "You just want to show off to her don't you?"

"Grr..." Nafhe opened up her menu and another appeared in front of me reading, "XNFE would like to trade, accept?"

I tapped accept and another prompt appeared showing my items and hers, between that was a section called offerings. An image of a blue hilted sword with a platinum colored blade showed up in her offerings box.

"You don't have to offer me anything, just hit accept." She said, nose in the air.

I nodded and hit accept just as Nafhe said. Another prompt appeared with a loading bar then disappeared when it finished.

"Open your inventory and set the item I gave you as your default weapon," I did as I was told and opened up my inventory.

"It should be in your weapons category," Rio added.

I nodded and tapped the weapons category. There were only two items available, the plain sword I got in the character select and the one I had just gotten. I tapped the new one and it gave me a few options; equip, customize, trade, and delete.

I pressed equip and the prompt disappeared. "Now what?"

"Well you have two options:" Rio swung her leg lazily from atop her broom, "You can buy a sheath to carry your sword in, or you can summon it like this..." She raised her hand and calmly said, "Summon..." a black staff with a green gem materialized in her hand.

Taking a cue from her, I raised my hand into the air and yelled out, "Summon!" The handle to my katana formed in my grip as I then slashed at the air, feeling like a total badass.

"Alright," Rio smiled from her broom, "Naf, do you wanna run her through the train-Nafhe?"

I looked over to Nafhe and she just seemed to be spacing out, staring off at some building.

"Hey, Nafhe, are you-?"

"We're being watched…" She interrupted me. "That's a sniper rifle...LOOK OUT!"

She jumped in front of me and shielded me with her hands. The sound of a bullet ricocheting off steel sounded out as I realized how close I was to being dead.

"Nice reaction time." We turned around to the building behind us and saw two girls, the one talking was dressed in a black coat, black Daisy approved shorts, a bra to show off her not so endowed chest, and absolutely huge and spiky pigtails.

"Humph." The other one was an annoyed looking chick with silvery hair under a cool Stetson, two revolvers, and the clothes you would expect a cowboy to wear in a spaghetti western.

"Who the hell are you guys?!" Nafhe yelled as she clenched her robotic hands into a fist.

"That's not important." The raven haired one waved her hand dismissively. "All you need to remember is that we're the Black Star Guild."

"Like I care!" Nafhe growled. "Rio, buff us."

Rio flew above us, mumbled an incantation and I suddenly felt sturdier. I smiled and gripped my sword, getting ready to-

"Stand back," Nafhe hissed as she covered me with her hand, "both of them are too experienced for you to take on."

"Like hell! I'm-"

She slammed her fist into the rooftop in front of me, leaving an imprint, "You're going to run when I say so, got it?"

"We're on the rooftop!" I protested, "How the hell do I get off?"

"Use the elevator." Rio rolled her eyes, "My broom is-"

"Will you two shut up?!" The cowboy girl yelled out and fired two shots in front of us.

"You piece a shit." Rio pointed her palm at the guild and a few small energy balls erupted from her hand and blasted towards them. The raven haired girl managed to jump away in time, summoned her sword, jumped over to our roof, and charged at us. I gasped and found myself not able to move, whether out of fright or something else I closed my eyes and braced myself. The girl raised her sword and-!

Clang!

I opened my eyes and gasped in surprise. Nafhe had somehow caught Raven-Girl's sword between her palms.

"I have to say," Raven-Girl smirked, "I seriously underestimated you." She smiled and kicked the hilt of her sword, flinging it into the air. Nafhe gasped while Raven-Girl jumped and caught it midair. Nafhe's eyes widened, realizing Raven-Girl's attack, without enough time to dodge she shielded her face with her hands and sword stabbed through them from above. Her mechanical hands crackled as the circuits failed and became unresponsive…

Raven-Girl drew her sword out and jumped off while machines crackled and failed, exploding right in Nafhe's face. Raven-Girl smiled wickedly as the smoke dissipated without a trace of Nafhe.

I covered my mouth and gasped, did she ki-?

"CARMEL! LOOK OUT!" Rio stuck a three point landing as a semi-transparent green orb formed around us, "Listen, you have to get out of here or your experience will fall in the negatives."

"So?! She just killed-" Raven-Girl fired a blast at us, causing her force field to crack

"She'll respawn. You on the other hand are new so-" She grunted as the force field shattered like glass from another shot from Raven Girl, "Run! I'll hold them off!"

I nodded and ran for the elevator while she fired off a few blasts from her hands. I stepped in to the elevator, pressed the button to the first floor and sighed with relief as the doors closed.

I felt terrible for not helping but they probably knew what was better for me. I placed my sword on the ground and tried to catch my breath; why was I so nervous about this? What was I supposed to do now? I sighed.

"'Ey."

Huh? The doors had opened up and a guy in a black and red trenchcoat walked in.

"Hey..."

"You look exhausted." he chuckled, "Visiting somebody?"

"No!" I blushed. "I was...running..." The elevator doors closed and we started moving again.

"With a sword?"

"Uh...yeah..." I bent over and grabbed my sword, "Gotta get used to it..."

"You're new aren't you?" He smiled confidently; what's up with this guy? I've never met somebody this outgoing ever.

"Y-yeah..." I responded hesitantly, "How'd you know?"

"You look exhausted but you haven't put your sword away," he looked quite pleased with himself.

But now that he mentions it... "Alright Sherlock, how do I put it away?"

"Just think of the weapon you want to get rid of…" he held out his hand as if he was gripping something, "then just say in your head 'disappear' and..." he released his grip on his invisible weapon, "it'll disappear. You won't be able to re-summon it for thirty seconds though."

I raised my sword like how I summoned it and said in my head 'disappear.' My grip loosened and my sword fazed out of reality, disappearing without a trace. "Thanks." I said.

"Yeah."

Ding!

The doors opened up and he took a step out. "Hey, what about I send you a friend request and I can help you out later, maybe show you around the game."

"Uhh..." I thought about it hesitantly while he opened up his menu, "My friends were going to show me around..."

"Hey, they can't be on all the time!"

"I guess you're-"

"Wait a minute." He looked at me, "You're Devil Girl..."

No. Was he part of the group that attacked us? How else would he know who I was? This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

"Summon!"

We both screamed as our weapons materialized in our hands. I didn't stand a chance. His sword was huge, and it was already at my neck before I could even do anything.

"Sorry about that cutie," he shrugged, "I honestly wanted to get to know you better but..."

"Yeah right." I gripped my sword tighter, "You're with those Black Star guys aren't you?"

He winked, "Speaking of which." He shifted his sword to his left hand, keeping it at my neck while he tapped the earpiece in his ear. "Yo, this is the Robin, come in Momma Bird, I've contacted Puffling, over. Repeat, come in Momma Bird, this is- what do you mean I can't be called Robin? What do mean-?!"

I rolled my eyes; this guy was obviously not the sharpest tool in the drawer.

"Can't you just give me a break for once?" He whined into his earpiece. "Seriously, come on!"

I gritted my teeth as I worked up my nerve. I was hoping that he'd be too distracted to notice me if I ran for it, or at least give me enough time to make it across the hallway.

"...But you guys- I can take care of- NO! I don't need back up! Look, if you guys-hey!" I bolted out into the hallway and around a corner, trying to make my way out of the building.

"Get back here!" He yelled out as a bullet whizzed by my cheek. Shit, how did he pull out a gun so quickly? I looked over my shoulder and started running faster after noticing how close he was to me. I ran as I looked frantically for a way out, any sort of exit would have to do, like...bingo!

I panted as I tried to outrun my attacker and get out through the fire escape. I sprinted towards the window, not even trying to fake him out. I readied my sword, gripping it with both hands, as I got closer to the window I raised it over my head and-

I screamed in pain. I came to a stop. My sword dropped to the ground with a loud clang! My back literally burned with pain, as if boiling hot metal was thrown on it, burning through my sweater and searing my skin. The heat only seemed to burn even hotter as I collapsed to the ground and moaned in pain. I tried to stand but my arm gave in and I collapsed again onto the cold tile floor. Tears formed in my eyes but I refused to let them free.

"You almost let her get away." A familiar feminine but fuzzy voice said.

"Well..." The guy from earlier spoke hesitantly, "It's not my fault if you guys-!"

"Shut up." The first voice said. "Nice shot little sister~"

"Don't call me that..." A much more familiar voice said. "Can we just kick her now?"

"Fine." the first voice said in a pouty tone, "Why are you so mean to your big sister?"

"Stella, please, stop." The second one sounded annoyed, "I'm ready to ban her, awaiting admin approval." Wait a minute…that second voice…it sounded like...

"Not until you tell your sister you love her~"

"Stella! Stop!" Oh my god...

"Fine...she'll be banned for five hours."

"Thanks...Stella…" ...That voice is...

* * *

I was booted back to the real world. The pain was gone. I reached out to my back out of curiosity and sighed with relief feeling only the loose top I used for sleeping. I was drenched with sweat and I took off my visor to wipe it off my brow. I threw the visor my bed, giving it a soft landing while I tried to catch my breath. Apparently I had been banned, but it didn't matter though. I was more concerned about something else. That voice...the one who was the little sister...that was my friend. That was Mag.

* * *

Thanks for reading chapter 2 of Arcana! As always, big thanks to my beta-reader Black Maiden for helping work out the kinks I always seem to miss. I hope you guys like the post-cyberpunk setting for this chapter, it's one of my favorite settings in fiction. Don't be afraid to drop a review with your honest opinion on the story, positive or negative.

So, I kind of want to to have a small discussion on VR tech whether in fiction or in real life at the end of every chapter that you're more than welcome to skip or respond to in a review. So today we're talking about Oculus Rift. Namely, I want one. Really bad. Seriously. I recently began to play Skyrim and I installed a mod that lets me play in first person while riding on a horse and I thought, "this would be amazing with oculus rift." Seriously, I can't wait for Oculus Rift to become affordable and mass produced. I want to stare down GLaDOS like if I were there, I want my gut rise to my throat as I jump off the crane in Mirror's Edge, I want to stand at the Throat of the World in Skyrim and scream Fus Ro Dah, I want to piss my pants as my Oculus begins to fizzle out as the Slender Man gets closer. I can't wait, Oculus has long way to go to get to the VR headsets of Sword Art Online or ½ Prince, but until then, I'm really excited.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm banned for four more hours Carmel!" Nafhe shouted into the phone so loud I swear I popped an eardrum.

"What about Rio?" I asked, rubbing my sore temple.

"I think she's still awake, hold up, I'll check."

"No, that's not what I-!"

*Beep*

I sighed as the call went on hold and the line went silent, laying my head back on my chair as I tried to think about what had just happened. What the hell was up with Mag? Up until today she'd been so...kind and so helpful. I felt like a terrible friend because I could never do anything for her. Everyday she'd try to walk me to and from work, making sure that I'd be safe. She was rich, I was poor, she hated it, and she always offered to buy me things because she knew it was a struggle for me to buy it myself. I was so lucky to be in such a rich kid school, and I was even luckier to have met her. But I just don't understand her. I don't understand her at all. What made her go so bezerk like that? First she attacked me in the real world. Then she attacked me in the game...but...What was it she had said to that raven haired girl?

"Stella, please, stop."

Her name was Stella...then Stella had said...

"Not until you tell your sister you love her~"

...Mag's never mentioned a sister. She'd never mentioned a person called Stella at all. Now that I think about, I know so little about her family and how they make a living and where she lives. She's visited me at home several times but I haven't the faintest idea where she lives. I have her number...maybe I should giver her a call...

I picked up my phone and then realized I had been dragged into a conference call.

"... maybe she went to the bathroom?"

I rolled my eyes, "No I didn't!"

"Hey! She's here!" Rio giggled into her mic.

"Yeah..." I said quietly.

"Does anybody know what the hell happened in there?" Nafhe sounded irritated, "I swear to god I'm going to crush that Black Star-!"

"Shut up Nafhe..." I hate how prideful Nafhe can be sometimes...besides I couldn't afford her killing Stella (if that's even her real name) before I even got to ask her questions.

"Hmph."

"She's right y'know." Rio backed me up, "Me and Nafhe are pretty decent targets if someone wanted to raise their levels fast. Judging by tactics and skills they had, they were a little bit stronger than us so I could be wrong."

"Couldn't you have just checked their levels by focusing on them?" I asked.

"You can, but I was too busy dodging attacks to check..." Rio clicked her tongue, "I never actually thought I'd be attacked by a dual-Arcana user."

"Now that I think about it..." Nafhe mumbled then said aloud, "Are you sure she wasn't using a dual-Arcana weapon?"

I just sat in awkward silence, not really knowing what to say about something I knew nothing about.

"Have you ever heard of a Star and Sun Arcana weapon?"

"Well..." Nafhe stuttered, "No...but neither has Carmel!"

"Yeah, but she only started playing today," Rio sighed, "You still there Carmel?"

"Yeah..."

"Let me get this out of the way." Rio cleared her throat and began, "There's this very difficult dungeon with a very hard boss with a very rare drop-"

"Like one in fifty!" Nafhe interjected.

"One in sixty five." There were some grumblings from Rio's end, "Anyways...the boss can drop an empty Arcana card, you can give the card an Arcana if you beat a boss with the corresponding Arcana you wish to have."

"Wait, bosses have Arcanas?" I asked.

"Yep. According to the game's lore, a lot of the bosses used to be adventurers who were corrupted by magic or technology." She took a minute to catch her breath. "Anyways, once you capture the boss's Arcana, you can either use the card for yourself or sell it for some top tier gear."

Jesus, this is unnecessarily complicated. "What's the benefit of two Arcanas?"

"You can't use any weapons that your Arcana doesn't use!" Nafhe berated me, "DUH!"

"Shut up Naff." Wow, even Rio is getting annoyed at her. Usually they're pretty tightly knit; they've known each other since forever.

"Hmph!"

My phone beeped, notifying that somebody had dropped out of the call.

"Rio?"

"Yeah?"

"She dropped out off the call, didn't she?"

"Nafhe...? Yeah."

We both sighed in unison.

"Do you...do you want me to continue...?" Her voice didn't sound too high in spirits.

"If you want..." I was indifferent about learning these things, on one hand it was kinda interesting, on the other hand I didn't care. It probably would never affect me, there was no way I could put so many hours into a game to get so good.

"You're probably bored to tears." The call went silent for a second, "I should check if the twins are asleep anyways..."

"Alright, goodnight Rio."

"Good night Carmel."

Everything went quiet. The silence was the only presence other than me in the room. It left me to my thoughts but fled quickly when my chair squeaked and wined beneath me. I sighed and plugged my phone into the charger and stood up. The moment had been ruined. That perfect silence after the call ended had been a sort of wake up call. Everything that had happened this day rushed in to occupy my thoughts in that one brief moment silence. I didn't know how to feel. Nothing made sense.

I walked over to my closet and slid the door open. I reached in for my blanket and brought it to my cheek, it was a comforting feeling having that blanket softly stroke my cheek. It reminded me of something endearing and kinda childish, I couldn't place it but it felt...safe.

I smiled, not really knowing why, and took it with me to my bed. I gingerly spread the blanket across the mattress and slid underneath it. I sighed happily, there was a feeling of safety and it quickly lulled me into sleep.

* * *

"Yo Carmel!"

I rushed over to take the plates of pancakes from Boss. "I'm on it!"

I grabbed the plate and took it to one of the booth seats nearest to the door. "I have one plate of blueberry pancakes..." I placed them in front of the older man. "...and a plate of chocolate chip pancakes for the cutie," and I placed those in front of the little girl.

"Daddy...when am I going to get my milkshake?" I had to do everything in my power not to coo at how adorable the little girl was.

"Do you guys have the milkshake ready?" The dad looked at me and I smiled back.

"I'll bring it right out for you guys."

I headed for the kitchen and took one of the stacked metal cups used for mixing shakes. I brought the cup over to the ice cream dispenser and rotated the cup in a circular fashion so to-

"Carmel!"

I jumped in surprise and dropped the cup about ready to punch Boss.

"Woah." he chuckled "Careful there."

"Fucking..." I bit my tongue and bent over to pick up the cup, "Don't yell in somebody's ear...Jesus..."

"Here." he took the cup from my hand and began to fill it, "Why don't you go take a break?"

"Because..." I eyed him suspiciously, "M I eyed him suspiciously, "My lunch break i.?"

"Well I'd hate for you to miss your date with your girlfriend." I wish I could wipe that smirk right off his face.

"Mag is not my girlfr-" I stopped dead in my tracks, "Mag is outside?"

"Mhm." he nodded while he started the ice cream mixer.

"I...I'm taking my break." I snatched the milkshake from him as soon as he was done.

I basically stormed out of the kitchen. I looked around to see where she was. Why the hell did Mag come and visit me? I had tried calling her in the morning when I woke up but she didn't answer. I had to walk myself to work again because Nafhe was still throwing her pissy-fit.

There! Near the back windows! But she's with...that must be Stella...she even has the jet black raven hair that she had in the game.

"Daddy! Daddy! My milkshake's ready!"

I looked down into my hand, down into the metal cup in my hand, in my haste I had subconsciously taken the milkshake. I bit my lip and forced a smile, "Here you go."

"Thank you, miss!"

I did my best to nod as I took off my apron and approached the table. They were expecting me, I was sure of it; they were both sitting on one side and extra menu on the other. Who the hell were these people? I thought I knew Mag so well but...

I walked over to the booth and both of them looked over to me, I asked, "Is the other side taken?"

"No not at all, we were expecting you to be honest," The older girl said with a smile. So this was Stella. She seemed a lot more pleasing than Mag based on first impressions alone.

"Hi Carmel..." Mag said quietly.

I slipped into the seat across from them and gave her a stare to show my dissatisfaction, "Hey, Mag."

Mag looked down and stared at her thighs. She's never acted this way before, but then again, she's been doing a lot of things that aren't in her character lately. I was hoping this "meeting" will be the end of it, maybe I could finally understand why she went psycho the day before.

"Well I should probably introduce myself." Stella smiled not knowing that I already knew her identity. "I'm Stella."

She outstretched her hand and I shook it. It was so soft...her hand I mean, it was soft. Her skin was like a porcelain doll's; in fact she basically looked like a porcelain doll. She had that creamy pale skin without a single blemish, long neatly groomed raven hair, and the most vibrant blue eyes you'd have ever seen.

"Do you know who I am?" She asked as she brought her hand away from me and onto her menu.

I stared at her while she flipped through the menu, "You're Mag's sister, and you're the pigtailed girl with the crown from the game."

"Oh, she must've told you about me." she smiled as she looked up from her menu. "Has she told you how much she loves her big sister!?"

"Stella...!" Mag yelled, and then looked over to me, "Tell her everything I've said about her..."

"Uh..." I said awkwardly, "She's never mentioned you...at all..."

Stella gasped dramatically almost as if she were in some terrible soap opera, "Maggie, how could you!?"

"No! Carmel! Why?!" Mag screamed out as she was suddenly smothered by her older sister.

"Don't you think she's so cute, Carmel?" Stella looked euphoric hugging Mag, though I use the word "hug" lightly, it was more like a light stranglehold.

I sighed when I sat down. I was hoping I could get to an end to this and figure out what was happening. Now I just wanted to know if these two really were sisters. Didn't Stella know how much Mag hated hugs? I guess they both had that dark hair color, and similar eye color (even if Mag's was more violet than blue), and they both had um... an unfortunately small cup size.

"We're in public Stella!"

"Cheek kisses are completely legal!"

"Carmel, she's unclipping my bra!"

"Am not!"

I stared in disbelief. How was Boss not coming over to get them to shut up? How had no one called the police to report sexual assault? Why has no one done anything? Why have I not done anything?

"Enough!"

Both sisters stopped struggling and stared at me. There was a brief moment of silence before Mag slipped out of her sister's grip, slid under the table, and popped out beside me.

I held my breath. The right side of her face was bruised. I hadn't seen it since I had come from behind and was facing her from an angle. I must've had bruised her when I climbed onto her stomach and punched her.

"Remember what I told you that night?" Mag rubbed the cheek where her bruise was.

"'Don't log in to RAILS?'"

She gave me a light smile, "No, but that too. I told you that you wouldn't understand why I told you not to do that, but..."

"Hold on there Maggie." Stella interjected, "Don't tell me you're-"

"I want to tell her..." she looked over to her sister and then over back to me, "I want to tell her everything."

"But..." Stella seemed different...maybe everything I had seen up until now was a facade?

"Stella. Please. I trust her." Mag looked over from me to her. Funny, I never thought she was good at puppy dog eyes...err...I mean puppy dog eye, she can't make that bad eye look normal at all. Cool in a kinda morbid weird way, but not cute. That's why she grew her bangs out, actually.

"Please don't look at me like at me like that..."

"Stella...please..."

"Maggie...don't do the puppy dog eyes..."

"But I'm your sister..."

"Fine! I hope she's trustworthy enough," A shiver ran up my spine while Stella pouted.

"Are you talking about me?" I asked.

"You bet we are," Mag flashed me a thumbs up that wasn't as reassuring as she probably expected it to be. Her smile, however, was back to that coy grin I had known her to wear. That was a lot more reassuring.

"So Carmel…" Stella looked back to me with a relaxed smile, "If we tell you what's going on, your view point on the world, as you know it, will be completely changed.

I gave a polite chuckle, "You make this sound like a movie." In all seriousness, I almost half expected her to bring out a red and blue pill after she had said that.

Stella chuckled too, "I can't blame you for saying that. Listen, I'd like to invite you over to our home, we can explain everything there, do you have time today?"

Here they go again; they're talking about explaining something, something I supposedly can't possibly understand. I'm finally getting somewhere with these sisters but I'm still being kept in the dark.

I sighed, but before I could even answer someone said, "of course she has time!"

Oh no...

"Hey Boss."

"Hey Mag."

Boss and Mag have always gotten along well, like, surprisingly well. I'm not sure why but maybe it had something to do with the perverse pleasure they took in teasing me.

"I'm working this afternoon, you know that," I stated rather flatly.

"You should live a little more, it'll do you good." He placed a menu in front of me, "Besides, you have a lot of vacation days you haven't even used."

I glared and pushed the menu back to him, "I'm not hungry."

"Not hungry? You're not starving yourself again, are you? Me and my sister can pay for it." Mag tried pushing her menu onto me which I pushed back to her.

"Oh…" Stella said while folding her hands together to rest her head on. "Is your family not well off?"

"Yes-Wait. No...actually...I meant...uh..." I could feel my cheeks getting warm as I looked for the right words to say.

"Not that I can say." Boss rubbed his neck with that big smile of his, "I'm a friend of the family's. I think I changed Carmen's diapers once, now that I think about it."

"You stupid-" Oh god, I'm blushing I know it.

"Who's Carmen?" Stella asked with furrowed eyebrows.

I pointed to myself. "I'm Carmen."

I watched as Stella's eyebrows shot up. Had Mag told her my name was Carmel? And Stella believed her?

"Oh…" She cleared her throat, blushing. "I'm…uh…I'm sorry for the mix up Car-Carmen."

"I-It's fine." We were both blushing now. God, this was so awkward! "Um, you can still call me Carmel if you want."

"Are you sure?" Stella asked. "Is that what you prefer to go by? I do want to make sure you're comfortable."

Well that sentence was ironic. She beat me to a stain on the ground in Arcana and now she wants to make sure I'm comfortable? "Carmel is fine." I said a bit too coldly, but I didn't care. "Boss, I'm not hungry."

"Mag and I try to get her to eat something that isn't cup ramen and lentils but the girl is just too damn stubborn to understand." Boss ignored me and pushed the menu practically into my lap.

Mag giggled, "At least get a hot dog or something once in a while."'

"Hmm..." We all looked over to Stella, who had that smile she liked to wear, "What if I offered you a job? I can teach you my trade."

"Huh?" Mag and I said in unison.

"Hey, you can't barge in here and try to steal one of my employees!" Boss said half seriously.

"Oh no, I wouldn't at all!" Stella giggled, "She can come over once she's done at work here, it's relatively low-stress so she doesn't have to worry about school."

I was astounded; a new job right after this one, and it fell right into my lap. Hell, maybe I could even learn a little more about Mag while I'm there. Still, I won't be able to play as much Arcana as I wanted, but a job was a job.

I cleared my throat, "No offense Miss...uh..."

"Don't call me Miss!" Stella giggled and fanned herself with her own hand, "You're Maggie's best friend, and she talks about you all the time. Just call me Stella."

"Oh," I looked over to Mag who seemed flustered as well. "Okay then...Stella, what is your specialty?"

"Oh I uh..." Stella cleared her throat, "I do coding for a living."

"Oh..." Of course she had a job to do with a computer.

"Oh, Stella, Carmel isn't very..." Mag stopped to look for the right words, "Good with...anything...computer-y."

"That's fine, I can build her up from the ground up, teach her to avoid a lot of the pitfalls new coders have."

I didn't know what to say, this was great, this was a great opportunity, "T-thanks! I...thank you so much Stella."

"Of course!" She smiled and turned to face Boss, "Mind if we take your employee for the rest of today? We'll give her back just like we found her."

Boss laughed loudly. "First you all need to order your lunch!"

* * *

Thanks for reading chapter 3 of Arcana! As always, big thanks to my beta-reader Black Maiden who essentially co-wrote this chapter. So, uh let me rephrase that. Thanks to my co-writer, Black Maiden for working out the kinks in this chapter. Although, I do think she's demoted back to beta-reader next chapter, I'll have to check. Anyways, don't be afraid to drop a review with your honest opinion on the story, positive or negative.

So, I'm just going to re-post an argument I posted on reddit about Tron. I would reformat it for this site, but I kinda want to go watch episode 6 of SAO II right now, so, yeah.

You know, I never understood why the original Tron is such a cult classic {and why the sequel is so hated}. Was it the blending of animation and live action? Disney had already done that countless times before. Was it the religion plot they had thrown in? I've seen the entire, "We are gods to inferior beings" before. I think the only thing I liked about Tron was the visuals, and not because of the blending. Call me a hipster, but I fucking loved the look of the movie's vector style graphics.

Anyways, back to Legacy. I think it's a solid film, not the best, but solid. Great visuals, great music, great fight scenes, and the great Olivia Wilde. If anything the movie was great at one thing, being memorable.


	4. Chapter 4

Stella drove her car into the driveway and it came to a full stop. I sat up, unbuckled my seatbelt, grabbed my sweater from the back seat beside me and had my hand on the door handle when Stella spoke up. "Welcome to my humble little condo!"

I paused and looked out the windshield; apparently Stella and I have completely different definitions of the words "humble" and "little." Admittedly her condo was a little smaller than most of the homes around the area, but this was the hills. The higher class lived here, after all. An abandoned lot alone could probably be worth more than my entire apartment complex.

"It's...pretty..." I mumbled as I opened the door.

"Thank you~!" Stella chimed excitedly

We stepped out of the car and the first thing I did was stretch. I brought my hands together over my head and stretched my arms and back until there was a satisfying cracking sound. I closed my eyes and sighed happily as my body relaxed.

Stella began to giggle as the car's lock beeped. "You're not much of a car person are you?"

I shook my head. "It's been a long time since I've been in a car. I usually just take the railway to the mall, even then I get tired of it anyways."

"Oh, but aren't you scared of being molested?!" Stella asked while she fished for her keys in her purse.

"You're hanging out with Mazzy too much." Mag groaned. "That only happens in shitty manga...and porn."

Stella struggled with a lanyard that was caught in her purse, completely ignoring Mag. "Have you called him yet?"

Mag shook her head and took out her phone. "Do you want me to call Mimi too?"

"Please and thank you~"

"Whatever."

Stella sighed as she finally got the lanyard out of her purse, "I love her to death but..." She gave me a weak smile and started to sort through the keys on her lanyard. Finally finding it she said a quiet "Ah!" and made her way to the front door.

"So uh..." The key clicked into place and Stella looked back at me. "Mag and I are a little messy so...sorry for the mess." She looked back at the door and turned the lock, took a step back, placed the lanyard back in her purse, and opened the door for me.

"Uh..." I looked down at my beat up sneakers for a moment and asked "Should I take off my shoes or...?"

"Oh, uh...no." She looked down at her heels, "I mean, you can if you want."

I muttered Thank you," and stepped in. First thing I notice is the smell of pizza and Chinese take-out, I looked around and lo and behold; there on the table ahead of me were a couple of pizza boxes.

Stella laughed nervously. "We kind of like to let the toppings age." She scurried over to the boxes and started to stack them together to take them out. "Make yourself at home; Maggie should be finished in a second."

"Yeah...thanks..." I made my way to the couch, sat down and sank to the bottom of it. I wiggled to try to sit up but I just kept sliding back down right where I started. I blushed out of embarrassment and looked around to see if anyone had seen me. The living room was clear, and from where I was I could also see the kitchen, luckily no one was there either; Stella must've gone to throw out the pizza boxes.

The condo did seem a little smaller from the inside but it felt homely. Messy, but homely. I felt like they generally had a lot of fun here. There was a guitar lying face up on the couch to my right, game controllers were strewn across the table and floor, there was dust gathering on the edge of the fan's blades above, and from over the kitchen's island I could see a mountain of pans peeking over it.

"Hey, need help?" Mag said as she walked in front of me, giving me full view of her neckline. Even while I was sitting down, sinking into a cushion she was still tiny.

I giggled. "Do you always puff up your chest like that?"

"Huh?" She frowned and furrowed her brow, "What does that mean?!"

"You puff up your chest like you're going to fight me every time you stand in place." I covered my mouth with my hand while I giggled. "It's kinda funny now that I think about it!"

She curled her lips and pouted. "Jerk."

I glared at her. "Shrimp."

We stared at each other, not breaking contact. I wasn't going to lose...nope...not gonna...she wants to...gotta hold out...just...!

We burst out laughing almost exactly on sync. I covered my face out of instinct and Mag looked away. We always ended up tying whenever we tried insulting the other.

"What'd I miss?" Stella walked into the living room with a confused look and a RAILS unit in hand.

"Nothing~" I answered in a sing song tone while Mag nodded to back me up.

"Right..." She said suspiciously as she walked over the couch to the right of me, took the guitar that was on it, placed it on the ground carefully, and placed her RAILS unit on the coffee table with a light "thud."

It was a little strange; I would've expected her to have the newest model, but hers was probably four years old since it still had the old teal colored RAILS logo on it instead of the bright red bolded RAILS of the new models. The visor on hers was a lot more circular and seemed to fit the face a bit better but sacrificed aesthetics over versatility; mine looked a lot cooler with its straight edges. The mic on hers had a small Styrofoam tip and looked a little more flexible than mine. The color on her unit was very vibrant blue; it was really "in your face."

"Do you want me to get mine?" Mag asked as she picked up the guitar and started to head down the hallway.

Stella turned her head and answered. "We don't need it right now but bring it if you want."

"Uh huh."

Stella sighed and turned to me "So!"

"Uh..." I paused for a second, what does "so" mean? "...So?"

"Sorry, didn't know how to start." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't have to talk about this much so it's a little hard to explain."

...And I'm lost again, "You mean coding?"

"Yes-No!" She scratched her scalp while she looked for the right words to say. "Sort of. You see I might've, uh...'contorted the truth.' I know how to code−and I'd be happy to teach you, I have a degree in it−but that's not what my job is."

I tilted my head in confusion. "What's your job then?"

"Well..." She smiled and winked "I'm a data mercenary!"

I stared at her. What was up with that delivery? First she acts all nervous about it, and then she yells it out like it's her super power. "What's a data mercenary?"

"Well in the private sector...private sector is like big conglomerate companies. You know what corporate espionage is, right?"

"Well, it's-" Before I could even answer the doorbell rang and Stella stood up. "Let me answer that first."

I nodded as I watched her open the door and a guy with a motorcycle helmet under his arm stepped in. He looked older than Stella, probably in his late twenties, probably twenty-seven-ish. He wore a black and red leather motorcycle jacket and a matching red t-shirt with black jeans. His hair was a dark red that was nearly black and was so well kept it almost made me jealous, his bangs were pretty long for a guy, in fact they could almost cover up his left eye.

"Maggie called." He said as he and Stella hugged and kissed cheeks.

"There was somebody we wanted you to meet." Stella answered. "Do you know if-Hey!"

Before she could finish the guy had cleared the space between her and me and was already sitting beside me on the couch. "Hey there, you know, you never accepted my friend request."

Oh god. It was this guy. Suddenly my image of him has dropped from cool and mysterious to flirty and annoying. "Well you did pull your sword out on me." I said coldly.

He pulled out a cocky smile and winked. "It's a badass sword, huh? If you want I can show you what it can-"

"Stop compensating you moron," Mag massaged her hand after taking a fistful of his bangs and yanking. "Also, she's jailbait."

"Oww..." He groaned and rubbed his forehead. "She looked older..."

I blushed a little, like I always do whenever somebody talked about the way I looked. Still, I didn't know if looking older than my real age was a good thing or not.

Mag cleared her throat to get our attention. "Carmel, the moron to your left is Mazzy. Mazzy, the girl to your right and out of your league is Carmel."

"You have a pretty name Carmel." he smiled and stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"It's actually Carmen," I shook his hand cautiously.

"Oh, which do you feel the most comfortable with then?" Again with the irony...

"Carmel's fine." I answered bluntly. "Lemme guess, your name isn't actually Mazzy, is it?"

He shook his head while Stella came over and sat with Mag on the couch to our right, "Name's Mazuma actually."

"Oh, like that Aztec king?" I asked.

"Uh...That's Moctezuma, not Mazuma. It's Yiddish." He stuttered for a moment. "...And uh...1920's slang for money...you can call me Zuma too..."

I mouthed out the word "right," paused, then answered "I'll just call you Mazzy."

The room went quiet. Nobody really knew what to say. What could I possibly add to the conversation? Jesus, this was awkward...

"So uh..." Stella cleared her throat. "Where was I?"

"Corporate espionage!" I said in too much of a haste to stop the awkwardness.

"Oh!" Mazuma looked excited. "Is she telling you the story of how she's a spy, used me, and broke my heart?"

And...now it was awkward again.

"I said I was sorry!" Stella protested.

"You can't just say sorry and make it better!" Mazu-...err...I mean, Mazzy answered back.

"I've been saying sorry for the last, what? Four, five years?!" Once again, I sat there awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. I glanced over to Mag and accidentally made eye contact. Before I could look away she looked over to her sister, rolled her eyes, and mimed shooting herself. I tried to stop myself from giggling but it just sorta came out, luckily (or unluckily) that didn't stop the two from arguing.

"Yeah, because 'sorry' solves everything!" Mazzy yelled as he stood up, not even noticing me or Mag.

"No, but I thought we've moved on from that!" She stood up and stared daggers. Apparently Stella didn't notice either.

"You had no right to do what you did!"

"I'm sorry but it had to be done!"

I looked back over to Mag who was in the middle of a face palm. I brought my hand up my mouth and tried to keep it shut. Mag smiled and gathered her hair in two tufts, like pigtails. Her eyes motioned to her right, towards Stella, and it finally clicked.

I gripped my lips together tighter while Mag started mouthing out words in time with her sister. It was almost scary how good she was at imitating her sister; she wore that same pouty lip curl, that narrow-eyed glare, and those furrowed pencil-thin brows.

I had to bring my other hand up to keep my mouth shut, trying to keep from giggling too hard. She was so good at it, like if she had memorized everything beforehand. Every blink, every lip curl, up to the foot stomp was just so perfect, I couldn't help but laugh.

The screaming stopped but I didn't. I realized both Mazzy and Stella were looking at me weird and Mag was still imitating Stella's one eyebrow lift.

"What are you-?" Mazzy sounded irritated at me but once he had finally noticed Mag he couldn't help but snicker.

"What is wrong with you two?" Stella asked, looking between both of us. When none of us answered (we were still too busy giggling to form a sentence) she looked over to Mag who immediately dropped her act (and her pigtails) and shrugged like she really didn't know what had happened.

Stella sighed and sat back down. "Can I just finish my story?"

We all nodded and Stella started. "So, as I was saying I'm a data mercenary, I spec-"

"I prefer 'spy.'" There was a smug grin on Mazzy's face.

"I think 'hacker' sounds a lot cooler." Mag quipped.

Stella growled, trying to keep her cool. "As a DATA MERCENARY, my job is to get whatever information my contractor wants by whatever means necessary." She paused and sighed. "So I am sort of a hacker and spy..."

"That's how she met Mazzy!" Mag snickered.

A look of annoyance with a hint of a blush spread across Stella's face. "...We'll...get to that in a second."

I nodded. "So let me get this straight, you're going to teach me how to be a hacker?"

"Uh..." She shook her head. "Kinda...I'll get to that in a bit. It'll make sense; just stick with me for a second. One day I got a job from an anonymous source, they wanted me to get them the source code for RAILS."

"What's a source code?" I've heard of the phrase before but I never understood what it was.

"You know all those ones and zeroes at the beginning of Matrix?" Mazzy answered instead.

I nodded.

"Well, that's a computer language called binary." He brushed his hair to the side and paused. "With the source code it's easier to decrypt code into a language that's easier to understand. Every game, program, and OS has its own source code. Think of it like the Colonel's secret recipe: you could probably find out the twelve herbs and spices if you tried hard enough, but it would be a lot easier if you have the recipe. Speaking of which..."

Mazzy looked over to Stella who responded bluntly, "No. We're having Thai food delivered, we already settled this."

"But-!" He didn't get very far before he gave up.

Stella rolled her eyes playfully and said, "Anyways, I had to get the source code for RAILS which is where he comes in." She pointed towards Mazzy. "Mazzy over here is part of the original team of developers that made RAILS. He was actually one of my heroes while I was still in college."

"Wait, really?!" It felt like I was meeting a person from history, like Einstein or Tesla. "That's so cool!"

He gave a humble chuckle and rubbed his neck awkwardly. "It's nothing really..."

"You act like its some big deal." Mag slouched in her seat "Rio is the daughter of two of them and Nafhe is the creator's granddaughter."

"Professor Zaha spoiled that girl rotten." Mazzy groaned and shivered and I couldn't help but giggle.

The door rang and Mag rushed to the door to open it. She yelled out "MIMI!" and hugged the Asian woman at the door. She was dressed in a woman's business suit and had hair that reached to her mid-back, probably a foot shorter than mine and not in a ponytail.

She looked uncomfortable while being hugged by the tiny Mag. I didn't blame her; Mag doesn't hug people like a normal person, and she was probably trying to get under her skin to be honest.

"Ugh..." The woman stood uncomfortably at the door and looked over to Stella, "Stella, can you...?"

Stella sighed...again; I was starting to notice a theme here. "Mag, stop it..."

Surprisingly Mag did let go and came over and sat down to my left, leaving me between her and Mazzy. I looked at the two and it worried me, they both had this grin on their face, like they were planning something.

The woman walked over to the couches and looked at Stella, "I was told there was something important...?"

Stella smiled warmly, stood up, and did the whole hug-kiss-kiss routine, "Thanks for coming Mei. We wanted you to meet somebody."

They both looked over to me at the same time and the woman stretched out her hand, "Mei Xing-La Holliday."

Holiday? That was her name? Weird...I took her hand and shook it, "Carmel...err...! I mean Carmen!" Even I'm doing it now, Jesus.

"Nice to meet you Carmen." She smiled, but I felt she had done it out of sense of politeness and not general niceness.

"Likewise." I paused for a second to work up the nerve. "What was your last name again?"

"Xing-La is my maiden name, Holliday I got from my husband." She said as if she had memorized it...

"We just call her Mimi!" Mag blurted out, wearing the coyest smile possible.

"Ooh! Can we go eat at Mimi's Cafe?" Mazzy chimed in.

Stella and Mei glared at him.

"My name, Mazuma, is Mei." She glared at Mazzy with total and complete malice.

"Um...uh..." He stuttered "Tai food is fine too...Mei."

Stella smiled triumphantly and looked over to Mei. "Please sit down; we'll get to you shortly." She cleared her throat, "I met Mazzy hoping I could get the source code from him but..."

Mazzy picked up the story from her, "The OS between my time..." He pointed towards his motorcycle helmet, but now that I saw it from closer up, was actually a RAILS unit, the first model in fact. "...And the new OS is too different for my source code to decrypt most of it."

"We found out later though…" Stella took back the reign of her story "That we could still access the developer's console in any game that had the Irino Corp logo on it. We ended up choosing Arcana because it had the biggest population of all Irino Corp games, which meant it had to have the most moderators and admins to keep the peace. We used the developer's console to start learning some of the commands the system used. We hoped that we could use these commands to crack and decrypt files in the new RAILS OS this way..."

Stella sighed, her demeanor changing. "…Then we started noticing a command we couldn't understand..."

"Slash logout underscore lockout..." I looked over to Mazzy, even his demeanor dropped. Everyone's did, and the room felt tense.

/logout_lockout

What did it mean?

"What's that mean?" I asked.

Stella looked sorrowful. "We wanted to know what that command did. So we took shifts, waiting for that command to appear again. It took a while but eventually I noticed someone entering the command during my shift. I rushed to that area...and...that's where Mei comes in..."

We all looked over to Mei who was staring at the floor, "My husband...is a private investigator...a mother had come into our office. Usually we have jealous spouses, or kids looking for their parents, but this mom came into our office crying. Her son−he was in college and loved VRMMO's−had fallen into a coma. They weren't that well off and had to have her son transferred to St. Joseph Grace Hospital, but as it turned out, it was owned by a company called Healthy Families Pharmaceuticals, which was itself owned by Irino Corp."

Oh...oh, no. I was starting to notice a pattern here and I didn't like it

Mei continued on. "This mother felt that Irino Corp was in someway responsible for what had happened to her child. My husband began an investigation, and it eventually led to him logging into Arcana. Some high ranking Admin caught wind of his investigation and ordered my husband to be locked out. It's more like being locked in to be honest..."

Again Stella took control of the story again. "What the lockout command does is make it impossible for you to be able to log out; it locks your consciousness into the game, and leaves your body as a vegetable."

I covered my mouth and whispered to myself "Oh my god..."

Stella nodded solemnly... "Do you remember the person that was with me when we attacked your group? That was Mei's husband."

I tilted my head in confusion "But wasn't that a girl?"

Mei nodded and tried to disguise her sob with a cough. "The admin decided it would be funny to change his avatar to a girl...the sick fuck..."

I thought back to when I registered. Not once did it ever ask what gender I wanted to use. I never really wondered why, but to be forced to live your life as the opposite gender away from your loved one...it must be a special type of hell.

"That's..." Mag spoke up, and she sounded different, more reserved. "That's why I didn't want you to log in...I didn't want you to risk the chance of getting locked out."

"..." I thought about what they were saying. Could they really be right? Is Irino Corp really part of this giant cover up? There's no way. They would've been sued by now right? They have to be lying.

"What's your proof?"

Everybody looked at me like I was crazy, everybody except Stella, who shook her head, "If we had any proof we wouldn't be in this situation. Irino Corp covers their tracks well."

Maybe she was right. Mei's story felt so sincere. It was the only thing that made me consider that maybe they were telling the truth.

I clicked my tongue. "What if I say I believe you?"

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mag instantly light up, and to my surprise she actually hugged me. "Oh my god! I thought you were going to think we were crazy!"

I see why Mei was so uncomfortable with her hug; she was hugging so hard, squeezing my shoulders it almost hurt. "Mag you're squeezing too hard!"

"I thought you wouldn't want to talk to me!"

"Mag, stop!"

"I was so worried!"

"Mag!"

I looked up to Mazzy, pleading with him for help. He shook his head and just watched as I was squeezed to death. He's so going to pay.

Stella cleared her throat, and suddenly Mag didn't seem so important anymore. "Carmel, I'll teach you how to be a coder and a hacker, but I can't guarantee that you'll be safe."

I lowered my gaze and thought about it: I could be trapped forever in a game. My mom would be heartbroken; my little brother would have to grow up so quickly because of me. They wouldn't have to worry about paying for my hospital stay but I wouldn't be able to help Mom pay the bills anymore.

Still...I had this sense of duty. A sense of wonder. I was getting myself involved in something I shouldn't, but I felt I should. I bunched my hands into fists, grabbing at the couch cushions under me like if they were some sort of support. I raised my gaze and tried to look as confident as possible. "I want to help."

Stella smiled. "Welcome to the Black Star guild."

* * *

Thanks for reading chapter 2 of Arcana! As always, big thanks to my beta-reader Black Maiden for helping work out the kinks I always seem to miss. Don't be afraid to drop a review with your honest opinion on the story, positive or negative. I'm going to go watch SAO II now...


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